In lieu of renovating their lakefront, open-air stadium, the Browns say they want a dome in Brook Park. They made that clear four days ago.
With a preseason home opener on Saturday night, the political powers-that-be waited until after the game to respond. The reply came on Sunday morning.
Cuyahoga County officials published a letter to Jimmy and Dee Haslam regarding the possible abandonment of the current location. Put simply, they don’t want the team to build a dome.
“Today we are writing to affirm our united commitment to keep the Browns in Downtown Cleveland for generations to come,” the letter explains. “The proposal to build a new stadium in Brook Park does not make fiscal sense for Cuyahoga County residents and taxpayers. Moreover, any proposal that would create an unacceptable risk to the County’s general fund cannot be considered. We believe it is our responsibility and in the best interests of our community to prioritize reinvestment in existing public assets.
“Over the last decade, we have seen billions of dollars of investment into Downtown Cleveland and it is our belief that a strong, vibrant downtown core is critical to our region. Working together, we can expand on the many public investments that have already been made including Progressive Field, Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, the Hilton Hotel and the Huntington Convention Center, and private investments including the new Sherwin Williams headquarters, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame expansion and the Flats East Bank. A renovation of the downtown stadium will build on those investments and anchor future development on the lakefront.”
The letter concludes with a plea to keep the Browns in Cleveland proper.
“The stadium is more than just a venue,” it reads. “The team represents the heart and soul of Northeast Ohio and reinforces our community’s identity and pride. Browns fans have a deep-rooted emotional connection to the team’s rich history in Downtown Cleveland.”
During the late afternoon, the Haslams responded with a public statement.
“A stadium project that could be a transformational opportunity for this region will take deep thought, objectivity, innovation, and patience,” they said. “The process of renovating or building a new stadium is incredibly complex. We have been reminded many times that the issues with the current stadium resulted from a rushed process that was not thorough and don’t want that repeated. We have received the county’s response and are still in the process of gathering information and doing diligence on both paths.
“It would be short-sighted for Northeast Ohio to rule out any options at this point for a long-term decision of this magnitude. We look forward to the City of Cleveland’s responses to our detailed questions regarding their [stadium renovation] proposal from last week and we remain committed to collaborating and communicating with all parties involved. Working together and keeping an open mind while thoroughly vetting this project is critical to achieving the goal of finding and executing the best long-term, sustainable stadium solution for this region.”
It’s obvious what’s going on here. The Haslams are using a possible Brook Park dome as leverage to get a better deal for the renovation of the current venue. With relocation not an option, they need something that will maximize taxpayer contributions to the project.
That’s how the game goes. That’s why it’s playing out in the public eye. Both sides want to look reasonable. More importantly, neither side wants to seem unreasonable.
It’s a dance. A chess match. It’s a way for the Haslams to get more bang for their buck, and in turn more bucks from John Q. Public.
They know it’s not easy. What with franchise values skyrocketing and no electorate willing to approve any ballot measure that would finance a stadium, they have to move gingerly. They have to make a decision to stay on the lakefront seem like a real concession, because a real concession has real value when it’s time to shake more cash from the free-money tree.
For now, it makes sense for fans to ignore the dance. Eventually, they’ll work something out. Probably at the lakefront. Probably after the Haslams reluctantly yield on Brook Park. And probably after they get more public dollars than they would if they didn’t have a local alternative to which they could point and say, “We want that!” before agreeing to stay right where they probably knew all along they’re going to be.
